Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and Security

Egypt, Intelligence and Security

Egypt's primary intelligence agency is the General Directorate for
State Security Investigations (GDSSI). The Ministry of the Interior
administers the GDSSI. The agency collects both foreign and domestic
intelligence, using civilian and military operatives and resources. The
GDSSI maintains several operational departments and partner agencies,
including the Counterintelligence Branch, the Department for Combating
Religious Activity, Directorate of State Security Investigations, and a
security action unit. The agency cooperates with military and foreign
intelligence services in operations intended to protect national
interests, especially relating to shipping, oil production, and
refinement, and regional anti-terrorism measures. The organization has
received criticism from human rights groups and members of the
international community for its employment of harsh coercion techniques
and conducting espionage on Egyptian citizens.

The government and the individual branches of service coordinate military
intelligence. The organization assesses threats to national targets and
actively protects military instillations. Operations of the Intelligence
Agency are classified.

While Egypt has cooperated with European and American anti-terrorist
operations in the past, a recent political shift has prompted Egyptian
authorities to withdraw from many Western intelligence and security
efforts in North Africa and the Middle East. The rise of Islamist sects
and terrorist groups in the region, as well as Egypt's close ties
to neighboring Arab states, creates further diplomatic tensions with
Europe and the United States. Although Egyptian intelligence agencies
aided the United States intelligence community by providing information
about the Al-Qaeda terrorist network, many in the Egyptian government
opposed the United States led war in Afghanistan in 2001. Regardless,
Egypt continues a liberal-use policy of its territorial waters for
international shipping, including access to the Suez Canal.

The Egyptian Constitution prohibits religious political parties, but over
the past decade, a few Islamist militant organizations have gained some
political ground. In the 1990s, Egyptian and United States intelligence
forces conducted operations to locate and capture Egyptian militants who
had fled the country and were basing possible anti-government and
terrorist operations abroad. The two nations successfully captured several
suspects, but the Egyptian government garnered international criticism for
human rights abuses, including poor treatment of the prisoners and the use
of secretive military tribunals.